Reichstag Fire Decree

The Reichstag Fire Decree (in German, Reichstagsbrandverordnung) is the commonly used abbreviation for the law that was passed by the Nazi government in direct response to the Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933. It took the government only one day to pass it on February 28.

Related Topics:
Nazi - Reichstag fire - February 27 - 1933 - February 28

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The actual name of the decree is Verordnung des Reichspräsidenten zum Schutz von Volk und Staat (Decree of the Reich President for the protection of people and state). At the behest of Chancellor Adolf Hitler, the law was issued by the 84-year-old (and lapsing in and out of senility) Paul von Hindenburg using the authority of Article 48 subsection 2 of the Weimar Constitution which allowed the Reichspräsident to take any appropriate measure to remedy dangers to public safety. It represents one of the key steps which the Nazi government took to formally establish its rule, commonly referred to as Gleichschaltung.

Related Topics:
Adolf Hitler - Senility - Paul von Hindenburg - Weimar Constitution - Gleichschaltung

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It suspended most of the human rights set forth in the constitution of the 1919 Weimar Republic. Since the decree exemplifies the methods by which the civil rights provided by Germany's modern democracy were abolished in a legal manner by the Nazis, sections 1 is reproduced in full:

Related Topics:
1919 - Weimar Republic

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In the following sections (§§ 2-5), the decree allowed the Reich government to seize state powers and introduced the death penalty for a large number of offenses. Section 6 declared that law went into force immediately upon its proclamation.

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The decree allowed Hitler's government to legally raid Communist Party offices and to imprison and torture party members; this imprisonment was sometimes euphemistically described as "protective custody". When the newly-elected Reichstag convened after the March 5, 1933 election, all 81 Communist deputies elected to that body were absent, allowing the Reichstag to approve the Enabling Act on March 23, 1933. The Reichstag Fire Decree was thus one of the significant steps in Hitler's seizure of power (see Gleichschaltung) and has been fittingly labelled the "Magna Carta of the Third Reich".

Related Topics:
Euphemistically - March 5 - 1933 - Enabling Act - March 23 - Gleichschaltung - Magna Carta

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